Liverpool’s midfield crisis is a damning indictment of the club’s efforts in the transfer market over the last four and a half years in which only Thiago Alcántara was acquired.
It can be argued that the addition of Fabio Carvalho should be counted as a midfield signing, although the Portuguese youngster is still nowhere close to having a definite position in the team after being used mainly on the left flank.
There are explanations for this, of course, ranging from the impact of COVID-19 to the fact that key goals like Aurelien Tchouameni weren’t achieved in the previous summer window.
Money, however, appears to be at the root of all Liverpool’s inaction with the Reds still sitting on their hands in the January transfer window following the transfer of Cody Gakpo from PSV.
Despite ongoing links with Moises Caicedo and a reported price cut from Brighton to £65m, according to the Mirror, an offer remains highly unlikely.
“I am pleased to say that we have not had any [offers]”Paul Barber told CBS. “Maybe they [Liverpool] I don’t have my email because I haven’t seen any.”
The Seagulls CEO added that a £42m offer would not be enough to test the South Coast team’s resolve in the market: “I’m not sure £42m includes the boots now, maybe just the boots.” laces.
“But kidding aside, the value of each player is ultimately determined by the market.
“Graham’s comments were partly joking but partly serious because Moises has been an exceptional player for us.”
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It would not be a leap to assume that a further £23m added on top would not be enough to convince Brighton of a sale either.
However, the numbers being thrown around, as far off the mark as they may seem, point to where Liverpool might be going wrong and where, conversely, their Premier League teammate is ultimately doing well.
While we haven’t been shy about mega-dealing to secure our top targets, there was a time when our recruiting team was just as adept at identifying buyouts on sale, turning £8m Andy Robertson and £25m Gini Wijnaldum millions of pounds worth of world-class talent.
That’s not to say we’ve completely strayed from that approach, but there’s now a certain stubbornness when it comes to acquiring real quality.
The Aurelien Tchouameni affair, if anything, has told us that Liverpool remain committed to the ‘all or nothing’ approach; identifying main objectives, pursuing them tenaciously and without compromising alternative options.
Conversely, we’ve seen Brighton acquire some phenomenal players (after first developing them themselves) on the cheap; Chief among them, perhaps, is the £4.5m deal that took Moises Caicedo away from Independiente del Valle.
If the eighth-place finisher in the English top flight were to sell the Ecuadorian for £42m, the return on the original investment would still be staggering.
We can appreciate that Liverpool are buying into a different market and trying to bring in players who will have an immediate impact in terms of their plans at the top of the table and in Europe.
However, perhaps the transfer of Caicedo shows that at times when our ‘all or nothing’ approach produces poor results, it helps to have a workable plan B and look at players a step or two back in the development process. that we can mold in the world. class stars.
We don’t necessarily need to see a complete overhaul of our recruitment policy, but there has to be a willingness to adapt when departments like midfield desperately need investment.
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